I Care
by DragonGamer0713
Summary: Rule Twelve in the Rules of Love series. To prove a point, Handsome Jack killed Bloodwing after a vicious battle with the Vault Hunters. Led by a veteran Hunter named Mercy the Swordsman, a promise is made to not only to rid Pandora of this fascist, but to also avenge the loyal pet's death. Mercy must confront and comfort Blood's owner, showing him he is never alone. MordecaiXOC.


The second the upgrade was grabbed, Jack's voice crackled on the Vault Hunter's Echo, "Oh, now I remember!"

She looked up and gasped, blue eyes widened as she grabbed the Mechcromancer and yanked her away from the hulking bird.

"Explosiiiiiiiiiiiive!"

On cue with his voice, the once loyal bird's head exploded, a few chucks of bloody meat flying and hitting the Commando in the face.

"NOOO!" the Vault Hunter screamed, only to feel like she was screaming on top of another's scream: Mordecai's. The owner to the beloved Bloodwing witnessed the whole thing go down. A simple mission to rescue the beloved pet turned into a battle of survival…which turned all for naught, to everyone's dismay.

"Oh shit!" the Commando, Axton gasped, wiping the blood off his face.

"I've never seen anything like that…" Gaige muttered, calling her Death Trap back to her, seeing the battle has ended.

"That is why you don't screw with me," Jack continued talking, "You and your little friend Mordecai turn yourselves in or that dumbass bird is just the beginning."

Mordecai, in a fit of rage, yelled into the Echo net, "God damnit, Jack! I'M GONNA KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME?"

The female Vault Hunter snarled as she called back at Jack, "Hey, Jack! Remember a while ago when I said I'd stay neutral against you?!"

"Yeah, what about it, Mercy?" Jack called up in a softer tone.

`"What you did to Bloodwing…is unforgiveable! I didn't care if you tortured me on the spot for being a traitor. I didn't care if you wiped out an entire colony of bandits. But you bring in an old friend of mine and rip his heart to bits by destroying his partner…that's crossing the line!"

"Oh, please, Mercy," he muttered, "I had a feeling you would betray me in the end anyway…"

The Commando turned to Mercy and cocked an eyebrow, "What is going on?"

"Shut up, Axton," she pointed a finger at him to silence him, "Jack, not once have I ever thought of betraying you, but you have stabbed me in the back this time. You PROMISED not to get Mordecai involved!"

Gaige gasped, placing her metallic hand over her mouth, "Allies turned enemies! That's it! Mercy, you knew Handsome Jack way back when?!"

She scowled over the interruptions, so she snarled at her two companions, "I'll explain it all when we get back to Sanctuary!"

"You better, Mercy…" Mordecai's voice droned into her ear, making her heart break in half.

Jack snickered, "Ooh, the grand reveal! Can't wait to see that sniper just stab you in the back…literally! Ahahaha!"

She growled, "You know nothing, Jack…" Quickly cutting off connections with the fascist maniac, Mercy turned back to her partners, the Commando and the Mechromancer. The two of them stared at her, as if she was a spy just caught in the middle of the act. However, since they both knew that Mercy is the infamous Swordsman of the Borderlands, they dared not make the first move.

Instead, Roland on the Echo net did. With a sigh, he spoke up, his tone sympathetic, "I'm…sorry about Bloodwing, soldier, but we've gotta keep moving. Get that software upgrade to Claptrap, and we'll be able to get through the security field leading to Control Core Angel."

With a deep sigh, Mercy looked at the upgrade in her gloved grasp, "Bloodwing…this better be worth it…"

"Of course, it will! We'll finally be able to get closer to kicking that fascist's ass!" Gaige chirped, trying to add light to the grim air.

Axton frowned, "Drink's on me tonight. We all need one after this fight."

"We're not out of the woods just yet, Ax," Mercy muttered as she stuffed the upgrade into her belt pouch, "But, I will hold you to it."

"Sweet!" Gaige cheered, her robotic fist thrusted into the air.

"Not for you, young blood," Axton smirked at the excited teen.

"Damnit…" her tone went from excited to pouty within seconds of the Commando's comment.

Mercy whistled for her companions, walking into the next room, loading up on ammo for her pistols. Axton was quick to reload his assault rifles, whistling a bit upon seeing a shiny new rifle, "Ooh, show me the loot!" Looking on the side of the rifle's barrel, the name sketched read "Dahl Blaster"

Gaige was more occupied with her Deathtrap, allowing a few minor tweaks to her loyal bot. Cooing at him like a loyal puppy, she quipped, "Who gets an upgrade?~ Deathtrap gets an upgrade!~" Adding some spikes to his shoulders to make him look fearsome, she hummed and whistled as the Mecromancer worked effortlessly.

Watching her two companions, made Mercy feel a little depressed. She remembers the good ol' days of the first Vault Hunt. Travelling with her best friend, Xic the Tamer, the two had countless adventures. Bumping into two of the infamous Vault Hunters, Lilith the Siren and Mordecai the Hunter, their adventures were dialed up to 11.

Mordecai and Mercy…saw each other as partners with benefits.

Xic and Lilth obviously knew what was going on, but never spoke up about it, knowing that Mercy would just shoot Xic for being a loudmouth. Lilth could care less, to be honest. Her heart was in another place entirely, belonging to another fellow Vault Hunter.

Xic…well, he never found any lasting love, but booty calls are just as good for the time being.

"Hey, Mercy?" Xic's voice perked into her Echo net.

"Yeah?" she sighed softly, her thoughts shaken by the interruption. Sometimes, Xic is the only one that understands Mercy's emotions through her tone alone.

There was a sigh, followed by a soft spoken tone from her best friend, "I'm sorry for what happened to Bloodwing. Seeing that in person must be terrible. Hey, maybe take a memento from her body, kinda like a symbol of memory of her. I think Mordecai would appreciate it too."

"Maybe…but approaching him will be the obstacle now."

"What do you mean?" Xic asked.

"Well," she sighed again as she stood up to walk back towards the arena, "Let's just say between Bloodwing's death and what Jack said, Mordecai will be slightly hostile towards me…"

"Oh come on! This is Mordecai we're talking about! You two have a deep history! You two were practically lovers…without the romantic attachment."

"Hey, that's what made me detach in the first place," she growled.

"On your side, not his."

She walked over to Bloodwing's corpse and frowned deeply at it. "It's so sudden…but I can barely believe it."

"Denial…the first stage of grief," Xic pointed out. "And from what I've heard, Mordecai's taking care of the anger stage."

"What makes you say that?" she asked as she removed two feathers gently from the great bird's body.

There was a decently long pause, making Mercy think he cut off from her. However, a soft hissing through teeth made her slightly relieved to hear something from him. "You and the other two will see…"

Placing the feathers gently in one of her belt pouches, Mercy nodded, "I'll look forward to seeing the upcoming fireworks. Mordecai always liked making big booms~"

"And making you scream~" Xic snickered.

Even Gaige and Axton stopped what they were doing when she yelled into the Echo net, "SHUT THE FUCK UP, XIC!"

"Umm…what was that?" Gaige asked.

Axton shrugged, "I have no clue…"

"I guess I need to sic DT on Xic when we get back to Sanctuary," she smirked evilly.

He clicked his tongue and lightly bopped the redhead on the top of her head, "Take it easy! Those two have been friends for years! It's just playful banter, that's all~"

"That maybe so, but I still want to hurt him!" Gaige laughed, "He still has my favorite wretch!"

"Still hung up on that?" Axton laughed, "Well, that's alright then. I think we should get moving now. Hey, Mercy! We're moving out!"

Mercy perked up to the Commando's statement and quipped, "Moving, Commando!"

Axton rolled his eyes and muttered, "Don't make me duel you again~"

"Hey, you were drunk off your ass and started that fight with me! Sorry I had to kick your military ass down so you didn't duel anyone else who wasn't so kind!"

"Whatever!" he barked, running his fingers through his growing dirty-blonde hair, "Come on, let's get going. The second longer we stay, who knows how many enemies we will be fighting."

"Yeah, I hate to say it, but Axton does have a point. A big block of Eriduim says Loaders are on their way to kill us."

Mercy nodded as she pulled out her prized pistol, the RV Pestilent Defiler. "This puppy will chew through those tin cans, just like last time."

Axton, with a deadpanned look on his handsome mug, stated, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you tried to fuck that pistol at least once."

"I will fucking shoot you, Axton!"

"Won't be the first time I've been shot~" he snickered, reloading his rifle. "Move out."

As the three Vault Hunters moved out, once again, Jack's voice cackled onto the Echo net, "Oh, where the hell is—I had a violin somewhere, I was going to play it all sarcastically—goddamnit. It was gonna be awesome. Blake! Where's a bloody violin!?"

Mercy growled, "Oh, that's fucking low!"

"Go, go!" Axton urged as the three of them jumped away and back into the stream leading out.

Heading towards a clearing, Jack spoke again, "Whoa—you didn't think you were gonna get out of here ALIVE, did ya?"

"So, you'd rather see me die here than have Mordecai stab me in the back?" Mercy growled.

"Kinda, yeah. I mean, you'll be dead either way, so this works for me."

Suddenly, over the faculty comms spoke up, "Intruder in range. Deploying reinforcements."

Mercy, Axton, and Gaige paled at the sheer numbers rushing towards them. Quickly, Mercy pulled out her swords, ready to fight til the death. Gaige gripped her robotic arm, ready to summon her bot. Axton, lastly, held the plate to set up his beloved Saber turret.

As Stalkers rushed at them, Mordecai's voice was heard, "Vault Hunters—get down."

Mercy looked up at the cliff where Mordecai was hording ordnance, yelling, "MOVE!"

From the cliff, explosives of all kinds lit up the creatures about to kill them. "GO, GO, GO!" Axton's military training kicking in, urging the two women to run.

"BY MY COMMAND!" Gaige yelled, releasing Deathtrap from his idle state, protecting them as they rushed through the exploding carnage.

"DIE, ASSHOLES! SCREW YOU! SCREW YOU! VETE AL DIABLO, YOU SONS OF BITCGES!" Mordecai screamed into the Echo net, making Mercy feel heartbroken for him. He lost his best friend; he was in grieving now…in the anger stage. "TAKE IT!

"Shit, Xic was right." Gripping one sword with her left hand and the Defiler with her right, she yelled, "ON MY LEAD! LET'S GO!"

Rushing through the battle zone was chaos. Mercy barely had time to register what was truly happening. Bullets zooming through the air. Creatures screaming in agony and falling over, dead. A Badass Loader was in their way, so Mercy took aim and shot a corrosive bullet right into the bot's head. It wasn't dead right away, but Deathtrap floated in and sliced it to pieces with his plasma claws.

A few Stalkers that didn't meet Death via Mordecai's rage, snarled and swarmed in at the trio. Axton smirked and yelled, tossing the plate at the ground, "Tossing in the little lady!"

The Sabre turret ripped up the hostile creatures into swiss cheese with ease. Mercy reached the Fast Travel station first, so she was the one to quickly select "Sanctuary".

With moments to spare, all three were teleported away and back home safely.

All three of them collapsed out of exhaustion and the sudden lack of adrenaline.

"Alright, sweet, sweet," Jack's voice popped up again, irking Mercy even more now, "Found it! Alright. This is a song for Mordecai's stupid bird, in E…" The noise that came from the instrument was literally the sound of nails on a chalkboard. Gaige yowled in pain, rolling on the ground and spazzing like she's having a seizure. Axton yelled out in pain and ripped the Echo out of his ear.

Mercy just took it as punishment, flinching regardless.

Thankfully, it only lasted a few moments, with Jack scowling, "Ah screw you, it woulda been hilarious if I'd found it earlier. Shut up."

Mercy growled and turned off her Echo ear piece. "Fuck off, Jack…I've had it with your voice."

"We all are," Axton grumbled. "I'm going to the bar. You have the upgrade, right?"

"Yeah, I have it. You two go ahead and rest. I'll turn it in…and get stabbed in the back."

"Ok, Mercy," Gaige frowned, "I'll go find Xic. Tell him that we're back."

"Good idea," she frowned as she stood up and began to walk towards Claptrap's little hideaway where he likes to stay. As much as she hated it, that bot can be amusing when it wants to be. Walking past Zed's medical clinic, she went into the alley and pulled out the upgrade. Without it saying a word, she quickly found the right outlet to stuff it into the metal body.

It yelped, "Buddy! What the HELL are you do-do-do-do-doo-ho-HOO!" After a little spazz attack with its glitchy body, it turned invisible, right before her very eyes. "Holy skagsack—I'm INVISIBLE! This is—you—I can't…Minion: gimme five!"

Mercy was still able to hit the chatty hump of metal with her sword hilt, "I'm NOT your minion!"

"Great." Roland's voice popped up, making her put her Echo back into her ear, "Claptrap can get us through the Angel's security field now. Come on back; we may have found a way to get past the bunker."

Mercy nodded and was about to turn to walk away, but Claptrap perked up, "Come on! Right here! Up top! Don't leave me hangin', bro!"

Suddenly, another body walked behind her and decided to high-five Claptrap anyway. "Whoo! Oh yeah!" Satisfied, the uni-wheeled bot rolled down the street and out of sight.

"Thanks for saving my ass on that little moment of awkwardness, Xic," Mercy smirked.

The Tamer chuckled, "Anything for my best friend. Hey, where to now?"

"The Crimson Raiders HQ. I need to talk to Roland about our next plan of attack."

He sighed as he followed her down the street once more. "I think you need a break. At least for one day."

"I won't stop until Jack is dead," Mercy growled, "I'll just take Zer0 and Maya with me next mission. Axton and Gaige were great, but they're just as tired and worn out as me right now."

"Fair enough, but still. Even the great Swordsman needs her rest. Besides…" suddenly he stopped her and spoke with a serious tone, "You need to talk to Mordecai. Tonight. Right after you talk to Roland. Please."

With a deep sigh, Mercy softly nodded her head, "I will. I promise."

"Good. Let's go." As a pair, they traveled up to the HQ, walking into the briefing room.

Roland looked up and frowned, "I'm sorry about Bloodwing, soldier."

"To be honest, say that to Mordecai, not me," she frowned back.

"I know, but still. All of the stories Lilith told me that you and Bloodwing had a decent friendship as well."

"Only when she clawed the hell out of my left shoulder with her talons," she muttered, rubbing her scarred up left shoulder.

"But there's still more to be done if we're gonna reach Command Core Angel." Handing her a note, he continued, "Take this note to A Thousand Cuts. You're going to deliver that note to a bandit leader known as the Slab King."

"What kind of name is that?" Xic asked in confusion. Mercy very quickly elbowed his ribs to keep him quiet.

"He used to be part of the Crimson Raiders, until his methods got too brutal."

Mercy stopped him, "How brutal?"

"I didn't think ripping Hyperion officials' limb from limb in front of their loved ones was an effective way to get intel."

Mercy and Xic whistled, "Yep, that's brutal…"

Roland continued, despite the commentary, "He disagreed. Still, he owes me a favor, and he can help us get past the bunker outside Control Core Angel."

Mercy stuffed the note into her pouch and nodded, "You got it. Thousand Cuts. Find the Slab King. Consider it done."

"Good, Mercy. I can understand why Lilith and Mordecai partnered up with you back then. You're a great Vault Hunter. You got shit done."

She shrugged, "I wasn't always like that, let me assure you."

"Well, anyway, when will you be heading off?"

She was about to answer, but Xic jumped in quickly, "Tomorrow morning, Roland. She needs her rest."

He nodded, "That's understandable. Get tired, get careless, and get killed. Go on, now."

With a nod, both of them left the briefing room. Walking down the stairs, Mercy growled, "Thanks for making me look like an ass, Xic."

"Trust me, you don't need my help with that!~"

Walking past the hysterical woman known as Tannis, Mercy veered towards the vending machine right outside the door back into the street. Xic blinked and looked at her, "Found good loot this time?"

"A shit ton of trash, sadly," she sighed, cashing in her worthless guns.

Xic shrugged, "Think of it this way: will you ever come across a weapon as good as your Defiler?"

Pulling out her pistol out and looked at it, she muttered, "If you find one just as good, if not better, grab it and call me, ok?"

"I'll keep that in mind…" he sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey, aren't you playing at the bar tonight? You said you had a new song you were working on."

The green-haired man facepalmed, "Oh did I now tell you? I gave up on it, because I need a female singer for half of it. I could always ask Lilith…"

"Nope. She's Roland's. You know that," Mercy interrupted him as they continued towards the bar again.

"Maya?"

"Krieg will rip you apart."

Xic flinched a bit, "You?"

"Maybe. Why not Gaige?"

Xic released a very strong face of disgust, "She wants to kill me!"

"Everyone wants to kill each other. Don't take it personal," she muttered, sheathing her Defiler again. "But in all seriousness, my friend, one day, you will find that one woman who will explode a Badass Brute for you. Just don't give up hope, ok?"

Xic sighed deeply, "But let's face facts here, Vada…" she slightly flinched when Xic called her by her birth name, "Every woman here on Pandora are already taken or bat-shit nuts."

"That's true."

"I have better off fucking a skag."

Mercy thought about that image for a few seconds and then quickly shivered, "Thanks for that mental image…"

"You're welcome. But still."

"If that's the case, you can come with us for finding the Slab King. Maybe there will be a few among his ranks that could be females."

He shrugged as they walked into the bar called "Moxxxie", "Maybe. I haven't been out in the field in a while. Maybe some blood and flying guts is what I need."

"Attaboy!" Mercy playfully gripped his shoulder, "That's the spirit!"

Gaige was standing in front of the slot machines, her face looking hopefully, but then turned into a face of horror as the machine turned on three bandits. Out of the payload shelf popped out a loaded grenade, making her yell, "MOVE!"

"BOOM TIME!" the machine cackled as Mercy and Xic got tackled by the Mechromancer to avoid getting hit. Mercy got hit, but her acid spike shield was lucky to absorb it without it running out of juice.

Xic, on the other hand, was in front of the two guys always playing darts…with Gaige on his torso. "Whoa…why does the floor feel so damn warm?" she gasped seeing Xic underneath her.

"You have terrible luck. Stop playing the slots!" Xic barked.

Gaige punched him square in the stomach with her robotic arm, making me grunt and wheeze as the wind was knocked out of him, "Shut up! You still have my favorite wretch!"

Mercy rolled her eyes as she grabbed the Mechromancer, "Oh, Gaige, he'll give it back to you when he can finally breathe again…"

Xic gave her a thumbs up and just stayed on the floor, unable to speak at all. He just grabbed his stomach and rolled into the fetal position in the middle of the floor.

"Serves him right," she huffed, walking with Mercy towards the bar. On one side, Axton was drinking and talking to Sir Hammerlock, a suave and rather nice fellow, telling him how the last mission went. Gaige smiled and went to the chatting men, hoping to get into the conversation, leaving Mercy alone.

In the center of the bar was the depressed looking Mordecai, staring into an empty glass. With a deep silent breath, she cautiously approached the sniper like a caged animal. Who knows if a single surprise will make him spring up and shoot someone.

The second Mercy sat down beside him, he spoke only one sentence to her, "Mercy, am I to believe that you are a spy for Jack at all?"

"I would never be a spy for that fascist. I will admit, we did have a past, but it was strictly platonic. I was the only one I didn't shoot him in the back. I can say that is my second biggest regret…"

"That's all I needed to hear. As long as you don't betray us…" he sighed softly, his smooth Mexican accent a little slurred from the rakk ale he was chugging.

"I may be a cold-hearted prick, but I'm not a traitor," she stated as she relaxed a bit and rolled, facing the bar and the owner of the bar, Mad Moxxi. "Hit one up, Mox. Just enough to make my brain fuzzy."

"You got it sugah~" she curled a sweet, seductive accent that would make anyone swoon for, man or woman.

Mordecai asked without even looking at her, "Not hitting it hard?"

"Not this time. I've got a mission to prepare for. I plan on heading towards a Thousand Cuts in one day's time."

"Oh yeah, Roland mentioned something like that while you guys were coming back. Well, I can't be there, but I wish you the best, Mercy."

She smiled at him and gently patted his shoulder, trying to get him to smile, "Thanks, buddy."

He softly nodded, trying not to look as depressed as he truly was. Mercy knew he was masking his emotions with booze. His eyes may be shielded by googles, but she's been his partner for at least a year and knows when he's hiding the truth of his pain. His eyes told her everything.

Those dark brown eyes of his were distorted in agony…and a burning desire for vengeance.

She frowned, but before she could say anything, Mordecai called out to Moxxi, "Hit me again."

"That's literally your tenth shot of rakk ale!" she scowled at the sniper, "I'm cutting you off, Mordecai."

He growled, "Come on, Moxxi. For old time's sake. Hit me again!"

Mercy watched with curiosity as the argument continued. "Oh, you know I'll hit you again!"

"Come on, Moxxi!" he barked, slamming his palm against the bar, making everyone in the bar look up from their previous activity.

She pulled out her pistol, Rubi and point it at the fusing Mordecai, "I said, No, sugah."

With a deathly depressed tone, he spoke through gritted teeth, "Go ahead and shoot me. You don't care if you kill me."

Mercy saw this as a perfect time to intervene, "Nope, but I do care." Quickly standing behind him, she hooked her arms up and around, locking his arms up and unable to put them down.

"H-Hey! Mercy!" he barked.

"Moxxi, add all drinks on my tab, please. I will escort him out myself."

Dragging the hardly-struggling Mordecai off of his seat, she watched as Moxxi huffed as she sheathed Rubi and resumed her business, swearing that she heard her mutter under her breath, "Drunkard bird-lover."

Mercy frowned deeply at the remark; Mad Moxxie must have a seeded hatred for Mordecai. She heard around the grapevine that they were former lovers, but she couldn't be too sure on that. Who knows? Five years apart can make for some odd adventures and discover odd romances.

Mercy not once took another man, not even Jack, after ending things with Mordecai. They separated on very friendly terms; it was not a split of hatred. Despite them not being bedfellows anymore, Mercy still cared from the Mexican sniper who can drink her under the table. She indeed found him funny, sarcastic, deadpanned in the right moment, and a sweet shot with anything with a scope on it. Plus, he was loyal to a fault for his love for loot and his closest friends.

As she dragged the poor man out of the bar, she wished that she could comfort him in the Hell he was facing himself. No one seemed to care of his woes over the death of his beloved partner.

"No one seems to care," Mordecai spoke as if he could read her mind, "No one…"

"That's not true, Mordy," she stated, forcing him to stand on his own two feet and releasing him. "Let's go into the old look out post."

He hiccupped for a second and asked, "Why go there? It's completely deserted."

"Exactly."

He stared at her with his steely gaze, "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing."

"Uh-huh…" he muttered, not buying that answer for shit. Like her, he knew exactly what she was doing or thinking based on her eyes and body language. However, being impaired with booze, he couldn't think straight and had to let her lead him on her little plans.

Mercy dragged him towards one of the outer buildings that outline the flying town. Thankfully, when Lilith got Sanctuary into the air during a brutal barrage from Jack, the tower was deemed intact for the most part. With the drunken Mordecai on her heels, she brought him up to the top floor, seeing a little place she made herself. It was a decent sized room used as an old post, but three of the four wide windows were barred by metal plates and the last was just covered with a curtain. In the far corner were a mattress and a chest next to it, most likely for keeping her equipment safe, but close by if she needed it in a hurry. In the shadow of the curtain was a single chair, most likely used for keeping a look out or sitting down to snipe an unfriendly target.

Aside from that, the room was empty.

"I love what you did with the place," Mordecai quipped sarcastically.

She smirked, "Better than that cave you call home."

"Pendeja…" he muttered in his native tongue.

She kicked the chest open and pulled out a brand new bottle of rakk ale, aged and perfect for the drinking. "Play nice or I have to drink this all by myself."

His eyes under his eye protection lit up, "Ok…"

She smiled, "Sit on the mattress." Grabbing the neck of the bottle to keep it steady, she grabbed the cork and grunted as she tried to un-cork the bottle. Mordecai watched with some amusement. "Damn…" she hissed, nearly turning red in the face.

"The Great Swordsman has a weakness: uncorking bottles of booze," he chuckled, "Allow me, Mercy." He took the bottle away from her and pulled out a corkscrew from one of his pouches. Within seconds, twist, pull, and pop! "There."

"Thanks. You take the first drink," she stated.

He shrugged as he placed his lips around the lip of the bottle, chugging the bitter alcohol down his throat. Pulling the bottle away, he looked at the label and asked, "Where and when did you get this?"

"Where? The Holy Spirits. The Zaford's bar out in the Highlands. When I was doing a mission for Moxxi's daughter," she paused as Mordecai released a displeasing sigh over the name spoken, "Krieg, Zer0, and I came across the bar. In order to stir up trouble, Krieg went nuts, as he always does. Zer0 protected my ass as I jumped over the bar and stole a few bottles and the two of us took off running. Krieg caught up with us later."

Mordecai chuckled, "That much trouble for some bottles?"

"Oh, that's only the tip of the iceberg for being the devil's advocate during that mission. The bottles were just a boobie prize."

"That's a win in my book."

"As for when? A good couple years old. 5-6 years, give or take. The label isn't exactly clear on the date."

Taking another sip before passing the bottle back to Mercy, he asked as she took a long gulp, "Why did you bring me here?"

She finished off her gulp, removing her lips from the bottle and looked at him with soft eyes, "You are grieving, Mordecai. I want you to be in a quiet place to let yourself go. Plus, Moxxi was going to shoot you and you didn't care if you died."

He looked down and away from her, trying to keep his emotions in check, but he was starting to crack a bit. "But…it's true. I don't care at this point…no one cared…that she's gone…"

Mercy gently reached behind his head and softly removed the elastic of his goggles, making his goggles fall off his eyes and down onto the steel floor. Gently rubbing his back, she frowned, "I care. I always cared. I will not stop until Jack is standing with one of my swords poking out of his chest. That's for Bloodwing. And this…" she handed him the bottle for a moment as she fished out the two feathers from her pouch, "…is for you. In memory of her."

Mordecai looked up finally and his chocolate brown eyes watered at the sight of his pet's feathers. Unable to hold back anymore, he bit his lower lip and let the tear fall. Quickly, Mercy pulled him in for a tight embrace, knowing that he needed someone who actually cared for him and understood the pain he was going through.

With silent, gentle sobs, Mordecai managed to wrap his arms around her body. "You care…" he wheezed softly.

With a gentle hush, she rubbed his back, "I care very much. I never stopped caring, Mordecai."

"Vada…" his eyes closed, breathing in deep heaves, the Mexican sniper held her to his body, needing the contact and the warmth of another person. He needed to feel like he was not alone. He needed to feel like someone was there to help him. With Mercy the Swordsman, or as he came to know her as Vada, in his arms, he knew that she would help him with those requirements.

Deep in his heart, he still loved her.

And deep within her heart, she still loved him.

"Mordecai?" she soothed his name after a good twenty minutes of comforting.

He didn't respond.

Moving her eyes enough, she noticed his eyes were shut with wet trails down his dirty cheeks. Plus, his body weight started to get heavier on her. The forth-full bottle of rakk ale slowly slipped from his grasp and landed on the floor with a hard "clang!" but miraculously, didn't break.

"Oh crap…" she muttered to herself, using one hand to undo her weapons belt for his and her sake. One wrong angle and there will be a sword in a bad place. Placing it into the chest, she took a breath before his body pushed her backwards on the mattress, knocked out cold from the exhaustion and booze in his system.

With a soft sigh, she rotated him onto the side, his back towards the wall as she too fell asleep in his arms.

With a slight hangover, Mercy was the first to wiggle awake the next morning. Mordecai was very close behind, sitting up slowly, not even opening his eyes yet, groaning lowly. "Did we sleep together last night?"

"Yep."

"Did I almost drink all of that rakk ale?"

"Yep."

"Am I naked?"

"Nope."

"Good," he chuckled softly, not wanting to get too crazy so fast. He didn't want to projectile vomit across the room. "Although, to be honest, I'm not very used to that."

"What? Sleeping with someone?"

"No, sleeping with you with my clothes on."

"So…" she chuckled, "Five years did not help you at all with that problem?"

"Nope!"

She laughed, "Old habits die hard, my friend!" Reaching over the side to the open bottle of booze, she finished it off, releasing a loud burp and making her crash back on the bed, "Damn…that stuff is strong first thing in the morning…"

Again, Mordecai did his best not to cackle, fearing he will upchuck across the room. However, he chuckle softly, slowly opening his eyes. Shaking the spots out of his vision, he moaned lowly, "Damn…"

Rolling off the bed, she grunted as she stood up, wobbling only a little bit. Looking back at the sniper, she chuckled and asked, placing three fingers in front of his eyes, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Cuantro?"

She rolled her eyes, "Close enough. Some fresh air will do you good."

Slowly but surely going to the Crimson Raider's HQ, Lilith saw Mordecai looking worse for wear. Xic was also there, overanalyzing things with his guitar in his lap. "Hey there, you two!" he called out. "If you're looking for Roland, you missed him. He's on patrol right now."

"Mordecai, how much did you drink last night?" Lilith asked, acting like a stern mother to a stubborn son.

"Ten shots and then three-fourths of a bottle of aged rakk ale."

Her jaw dropped, "You can't be serious…" Then she looked directly at Mercy and growled, "You're an enabler!"

"Hey, hey, hey, I think that much was warranted for the pain over Bloodwing."

Xic then beamed, "Oh right! Hey, Mercy, what did you do with Bloodwing's feathers?"

Mercy forced Mordecai into a vacant seat and answered, "Before we came here, I saw them on the side of the bed, most likely from…"

Xic smirked evilly, a lustful look in his dark green eyes, "Rekindling old flames?~ Damn, Merc~ You work fast!" He barely had the speed to dodge one of Defiler's acidic rounds shot at him.

Even Lilith jumped out of surprise.

Mordecai yelped as he fell out of his chair.

"As I was saying…" Mercy growled with a very sadistic smirk across her lips, holding the smoking pistol in her vice grip, "The feathers were found on the side of the bed, most likely when we crashed backwards after our little talk. And when sleeping, most likely it fell from my grip. I grabbed them before we left."

"Your little hideout, correct?" Xic gulped, still a little shaken from that near-missed shot.

"Yeah." She fished them out and flashed the two feathers off like the winning hand in a poker game. Mordecai scrambled back into his seat and he had to cast his eyes down when he saw the feathers. Despite what Mercy said and did to him last night to comfort him, the heart is still tender from losing such a noble bird.

"What was your idea, Xic?"

"Tie them to your weapons. That way, Bloodwing is still among you, but in spirit."

Mordecai muttered, "That's…actually not a bad idea." Taking one of the feathers into his hand, he asked, "Got any string?"

"Actually, I just might." Xic began to rummage through the desk and then growled, "That crazy bitch must've grabbed it. Two seconds, guys." He ran down the stairs and with a few minutes of vicious debate with Tannis, he returned with a spool of heavy duty thread, "Ta-da~"

Lilith added her two sense, "Ok, but on what weapons?"

"Well, that's why I supposed two feathers instead of one," Xic grinned, "That way, Mordecai gets one for one of his beloved sniper rifles, and Mercy gets one, as a memory and a bond she has with the bird and her Hunter~"

The way it was phrased, made Mercy blush hysterically for a moment, while Lilith made matters worse, "The sexual tension is very thick in here…"

"Shut up, Lil," Mordecai grumbled, hiding a blush underneath his scruffy cheeks as well.

"Well, I want the feather on the Defiler. It was the pistol I used to weaken her. It's only fitting." Mercy pulled out her Defiler once more and a few moments of arts and crafts, the feather dangled off the clip hole on the bottom of the grip. She smiled as sheathed it, seeing the feather bounce and float freely when the pistol was holstered.

Seeing it felt like Bloodwing was not dead at all. Mercy gently brushed it with her fingers and whispered, "You will be avenged, ol' girl. I promise."

Mordecai smiled softly, and stated, "I'll put mine on a sniper rifle later. Right now, I need another drink…"

"Dude!" Mercy barked, "You could barely keep it together this morning!"

"I blame the aged rakk ale," he stated, pointing lazily in Mercy's direction.

She stood in front of him, forcing him to look up to meet eye-to-eye with the Swordsman, "Oh, come on! You can hold your liquor better than anyone I know, but even this morning, I thought—" suddenly, Xic pushed her forward, making her lose her balance and crash right up against Mordecai's chair, bracing herself with her hands planted on either side of his head.

Lilith cleared her throat and asked, "Need me to hit him?"

"Nope. Allow me~" she growled, an evil smirk on her face.

Xic smirked and took off running down the stairs.

Before Mercy gave chase, Mordecai quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her into a quick hug, "Thank you, Vada. You truly do care."

"Of course, Mordy. I always did. And that will never change. Now, please let me go so I can go kill him."

With a chuckle, he released her, laughing hysterically as she bolted after her best friend, howling, "YOU BETTER RUN, YOU BANDIT-BLOWER!"

 **Rule of Love:**

A hug = I Care

July 2016


End file.
